Il mio primo giorno a Roma!

The last few days have been incredibly exciting- full of laughter, amazement, and heat fueled exhaustion. I feel as though I’ve been living in Rome for weeks rather than days, and though I know I have endless amounts of sights and places to explore, I feel like I already know my area well. To anyone who I talked to in the week leading up to my departure, you know I was intensely nervous about studying abroad, knowing no one and nothing about what to expect. Everything has honestly been better than I could have imagined (except I could do with the weather maybe just ten degrees cooler).

When I arrived at the airport very early Monday morning (7:20am Italy time, 1:20am NJ time), I was immediately greeted by American University of Rome staff after grabbing my luggage (and texting Elena-thanks for staying up late!), and soon I met my first roommate, Emma. A group of us early arrivals were driven straight to our apartments, and by 8:30am, Emma and I were walking through the doors of our new home. We live in a big apartment right off of Viale di Trastevere, kind of on the outskirts of the main city of Trastevere, Rome. 

Our massive living room and dining table

My bedroom, pre-unpacking

Our very Italian kitchen

The view from my balcony

Trastevere is becoming a really popular destination in Rome- it has amazing buildings and entertainment not yet completely overrun with tourists, coupled with a very close location to some of the most popular Roman sites. We are in walking distance of (and have walked to) the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps, the Vatican, the Coliseum, and Villa Borghese. Rome is just an incredibly walkable city in general. Though my feet and legs feel as though they are about the fall off from the miles of walking I do everyday, there really is no better way to get around. Luckily I am also a 30 second walk away from the tram, so if I don't feel up to walking, I always have that easier option!

So that first day, Monday was just a big exploration day. Exploring the apartment, the immediate surrounding area, then walking towards Piazza Venezia and the Coliseum. 

I had to take a picture of my favorite car!

Walking down Viale di Trastevere

The Tiber river, about a 15 minute walk down Viale di Trastevere. Those white tents on the left turn into a great area at night with bars, restaurants, games and music. Unfortunately they close at the end of August (but I've been three nights already!)

Foro Romano

Emma and I got wine at our first lunch at Piazza Venezia! (and pizza and brushetta)

The Coliseum (it seemed a little smaller than I thought it was...)

Piazza Venezia

Piazza Venezia, our closest large piazza and right at the end of the tram line

On the walk from Piazza Venezia to the Coliseum.

We went to AUR for the first time around 5:30 for a Prosecco toast by the dean of the school (I've had Prosecco at least five separate times since I've been here, it's delicious) and a little bit of mingling. AUR is a really, really pretty school but SO much smaller than I expected it to be. It is really just two buildings and a beautiful garden sitting area, with some other buildings- like the auditorium, media room, and library- a minute or two walk away from campus. The best part though, by far, is the view from the very top of the classrooms building.

(my badly done panorama shot)

These pictures honestly doesn't do the view one bit of justice, it is incredible to see first hand. It was completely empty when we walked up (twice), and just so peaceful. The city seems so accessible and friendly from this view, and the mountains in the back look incredible. I plan to come up here more during my time at AUR- its almost like looking at a real view map (I found Piazza Venezia!). After our time at AUR, Emma and I attempted to walk back, went the wrong way, and got hopelessly lost. What should have taken about twenty minutes turned into an hour and a half. We were completely fine exploring though, and even stopped to get a picture in front of an area with another great view of Rome (and I stopped for my first gelato).

Here we thought we were in the right area to get back... we weren't even close.

After some exploring and walking, we wandered eventually to the Tiber river and found our way back home by about 8:30, and promptly crashed by 9:30. It took incredible effort to beat back the jetlag for that long, it seemed like every time I stopped walking I just wanted to close my eyes for just.. one.. second..... But after two nights of sleep (with a few hours awake in the middle of the night, and very late mornings), I officially beat the six hour time difference!